Macedonian and Hellenistic Eras

6 November 2017

Change of plans (with your agreement)

Move final "seminar" discussion on Alexander the Great up one week FROM 4 December TO 27 November
Final lecture class will now comprise a short lecture and a review session
- Quiz competition, in groups
- Winning teams get points applied to their final exams (divided between the number of team-mates, so the smaller the team, the larger the haul)

Philip II: rise to power

Youngest son of Amyntas III, born circa 382
Hostage in Thebes as a youth
- Mentored by Epaminondas (died 362) and was the eromenos of the statesman and general Pelopidas (died 364)
His eldest brother Alexander II died without heir
The next-eldest brother Perdiccas III died young
- He left an infant son (Amyntas IV). Philip was initially regent, but usurped the throne for himself in 359

Philip II reigned 359-336

North: outright subjugation
- Seized Athenian colonies on the Chalcidice peninsula (359-354)
- Conquered the independent cities of Thrace (by 348)
- Invaded and annexed Scythian territory (342)
South: manipulating leagues and alliances
- As leader of the Amphictyonic League of Delphi, he won the Third Sacred War (356-346), in the end annexing Thessaly directly
- Crushed an alliance of Athens, Thebes, Corinth and other poleis at the Battle of Chaeronea (338), but did not annex the cities
- League of Corinth (founded 337) established to unite most of Greece under Philip's leadership

Philip and Sparta

When Philip, having entered their territories, sent to know whether he should come as an enemy or a friend, the Spartans returned, "Neither."

Plutarch, Apophthegmata Laconica. Tr. Cole (1931), p. 434

And when Philip wrote thus to the Spartans: "If once I enter into your territories, I will destroy you all, never to rise again;" they answered him with the single word, "If."

Plutarch, De Garrulitate 17. Tr. Helmbold (1939), p. 243

The tomb of Philip (thought to be Philip II), discovered at Vergina, northern Greece, in 1977

Alexander's youth

Born 356, son of Philip and his principal wife, Olympias, princess of Epirus
Tamed his horse, Bucephalus, who would accompany him to India
Educated by Aristotle alongisde a whole generation of Macedonian nobles
- Ptolmey, future pharoah of Egypt
- Hephaistion, Alexander's friend, lover, and a telented leader in his own right
- Cassander, future king of Macedonia
At 18, Alexander commanded half the army at Chaeronea

Philip's marriage to Cleopatra Eurydice

In consequence of these exploits, then, as was natural, Philip was excessively fond of his son, so that he even rejoiced to hear the Macedonians call Alexander their king, but Philip their general. However, the disorders in his household, due to the fact that his marriages and amours carried into the kingdom the infection, as it were, which reigned in the women's apartments, produced many grounds of offence and great quarrels between father and son, and these the bad temper of Olympias, who was a jealous and sullen woman, made still greater, since she spurred Alexander on.

The most open quarrel was brought on by Attalus at the marriage of Cleopatra, a maiden whom Philip was taking to wife, having fallen in love with the girl when he was past the age for it. Attalus, now, was the girl's uncle, and being in his cups, he called upon the Macedonians to ask of the gods that from Philip and Cleopatra there might be born a legitimate successor

to the kingdom. At this Alexander was exasperated, and with the words, 'But what of me, base wretch? Dost thou take me for a bastard?' threw a cup at him.

Then Philip rose up against him with drawn sword, but, fortunately for both, his anger and his wine made him trip and fall. Then Alexander, mocking over him, said: 'Look now, men! here is one who was preparing to cross from Europe into Asia; and he is upset in trying to cross from couch to couch.' After this drunken broil Alexander took Olympias and established her in Epirus, while he himself tarried in Illyria.

Plutarch, Alexander 9.3-5

Alexander's Ascension

Philip was murdered at the wedding of his daughter (also named Cleopatra), and Alexander succeeded at age 20
Faced rebellions and resistance
- At home, carried out a purge of Macedonian nobles, starting with Attalus and his cousin, the former Amyntas IV
- A campaign into the Balkans reasserted Macedonian rule over the Thracian tribes as far as the Danube
- A lightning campaign into Greece saw Thebes destroyed (335), Athens defeated, and Alexander affirmed as the hegemon of the Amphictyonic and Corinthian Leagues
Alexander crossed the Hellespont into Asia in 334, never to return

Alexander and Diogenes the Cynic

And now a general assembly of the Greeks was held at the Isthmus, where a vote was passed to make an expedition against Persia with Alexander, and he was proclaimed their leader. Thereupon many statesmen and philosophers came to him with their congratulations, and he expected that Diogenes of Sinope also, who was tarrying in Corinth, would do likewise. But since that philosopher took not the slightest notice of Alexander, and continued to enjoy his leisure in the suburb Craneion, Alexander went in person to see him; and he found him lying in the sun. Diogenes raised himself up a little when he saw so many persons coming towards him, and fixed his eyes upon Alexander. And when that monarch addressed him with greetings, and asked if he wanted anything, 'Yes,' said Diogenes, 'stand a little out of my sun.' It is said that Alexander was so struck by this, and admired so much the haughtiness and grandeur of the man who had nothing but scorn for him, that he said to his followers, who were laughing and jesting about

the philosopher as they went away, 'But verily, if I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes.'

Plutarch, Alexander 14.1-3.

Alexander's major battles

Battle of Granicus (334), fought near Troy, delivered western Asia Minor
Battle of Issus (333), fought in Cilicia, the first direct confrontation with Shah-an-shah Darius III, whose wife, daughters, and mother were captured
Siege of Tyre and Siege of Gaza (332) brutal sieges which secured the Levant and Egypt
Battle of Gaugamela (331), fought near Nineveh (Mosul), Darius' armies were decisively crushed, and offered no further coordinated resistance
Battle of the Hydaspes River (326), fought in the modern Punjab province of Pakistan, the costliest battle due to the deployment of elephants on the Indian side

Aerial photograph of Tyre, 1934

Alexander's Divinity

When Alexander had passed through the desert and was come to the place of the oracle, the prophet of Ammon gave him salutation from the god as from a father; whereupon Alexander asked him whether any of the murderers of his father had escaped him. To this the prophet answered by bidding him be guarded in his speech, since his was not a mortal father. Alexander therefore changed the form of his question, and asked whether the murderers of Philip had all been punished; and then, regarding his own empire, he asked whether it was given to him to become lord and master of all mankind. The god gave answer that this was given to him, and that Philip was fully avenged. Then Alexander made splendid offerings to the god and gave his priests large gifts of money.

This is what most writers state regarding the oracular responses; but Alexander himself, in a letter to his mother, says that he received certain secret responses, which he would tell to

her, and to her alone, on his return. And some say that the prophet, wishing to show his friendliness by addressing him with "O paidion," or O my son, in his foreign pronunciation ended the words with "s" instead of "n," and said, "O paidios," and that Alexander was pleased at the slip in pronunciation, and a story became current that the god had addressed him with "O pai Dios," or O son of Zeus.

Plutarch, Alexander 27.5-9

The Macedonian Army

Philip learned from Theban infantry tactics, and iterated upon them
- The pezhetairoi (foot companions) used a smaller shield than the Greek hoplon/aspis, but a much longer pike called the sarissa
- Sensory input became more important than total protection in helmets
Both geography (larger, flatter plains) and social structures (a king and large hereditary nobility) led the Macedonians to place greater emphasis on cavalry
- The hetairoi (companions) were a heavy lancers drawn from the top of Macedonian society
Infantry engaged the enemy to hold them in place while the cavalry served as a shock force (anvil and hammer)

The "Alexander Sarcophagus," final quarter C4 BC, Istanbul Archaeological Museum

(Top) Alexander, at left, and cavalry attacking foreign infantry (note cloth armor, crescent shields, bow-and-arrow)

(Bottom left-to-right) detail of a pediment (note surviving color); a reconstruction of the original coloring; detail of the cavalryman (note the distinctive Boeotian helmet, cuirass, and xiphos short-sword)

A Hellenistic pikeman and his equipment (note chainmail armor)

Partition by the Diadochi

Alexander died in 323, age 32
- Roxana was pregnant with what turned out to be a boy, Alexander IV Posthumus (323-309)
- Alexander's half-brother, Philip III (executed 317), was mentally unfit to rule
Partition of Babylon (323), Partition of Triparadisus (321), and Partition of Persepolis (315) divided up de facto authority between Alexander's generals under the nominal leadership of the kings
A string of regents attempted to hold the empire together, but without a strong leader it fractured in the Wars of the Diadochi (322-275)

The Hellenistic world in 301 and in 275. Note Macedonia, where the Antigonid kings finally established themselves

Hellenistic political order

Major winners from the wars of the diadochi:
- Seleucus I (358-281), founder of the eponymous dynasty in Persia and the Levant
- Ptolmey I (367-283), founder of the eponymous dynasty in Egypt
- Antigonus I (382-301) and his son Demetrius I (337-283), founders of the Antigonid Dynasty in Macedonia
- The kingdom of Epirus, whence Alexander's mother Olympias originated, under Pyrrhus (r. 297-272) defended Magna Graecia against Rome
- Achaean League (280-146), a federation of Peloponnesian poleis
- Aitolian League (early C4-189), a federation of central Greece outside Attica and Boeotia

Alexander's cities

After the battle with Porus (the Battle of Hydaspes River, 326), Bucephalas died, - not at once, but some time afterwards, - as most writers say, from wounds for which he was under treatment, but according to Onesicritus, from old age, having become quite worn out; for he was thirty years old when he died. His death grieved Alexander mightily, who felt that he had lost nothing less than a comrade and a friend; he also built a city in his memory on the banks of the Hydaspes and called it Bucephalia. It is said, too, that when he lost a dog also, named Peritas, which had been reared by him and was loved by him, he founded a city and gave it the dog's name. Sotion says he heard this from Potamon the Lesbian.

Plutarch, Alexander 61.1-3

Greek cities across Asia

Alexander founded or renamed over a dozen cities, and the diadochi were almost as zealous
- Besides Alexandria in Egypt and Alexandretta in Turkey, there is also Kandahar, Herat and Ai-Khanoum in Afghanistan, Merv in Turkmenistan, Alexandria Eschate in Tajikistan
Cassander founded Thessalonika in 315, named for his wife Alexander's half-sister
Antigonus refounded a city c.315, which he named Antigoneia after himself, but which was captured in 302 by Lysimachus who renamed it Nicaea after his wife
Seleucus I named several cities after himself, most importantly Seleucia-on-Tigris (c.305)
- He named sixteen other cities after his son, Antiochus, most importantly Antioch on the Orontes (founded 293)

Theocritus (fl. 270s), Idyl 15

Plot summary: Gorgo, a Syracusan matron now resident in Alexandria with her husband, visits her friend Praxinoa. The ladies gossip beofre Gorgo persuades her friend to accompany her to the palace to see the festival of Adonis. After pushing through the crowds, they admire the tapestries and listen to a recital of the Adonis song. They bid farewell to the statue of Adonis when they leave (from Whitehorne, 1995)

(in the street) GORGO Heavens, what a crowd! How we're to get through this awful crush and how long it's going to take us, I can't imagine. Talk of an ant-heap!

PRAXINOA I must say, you've done us many a good turn, my good Ptolemy, since your father went to heaven. No more hoods creep up on you nowadays and do you in - and old Egyptian habit. The tricks those scoundrels used to play! They're all alike - dirty, lazy, good-for-nothings!